Detroit; Land of Whiskey, Tobacco, Horses, Detroit; Detroit

Ugh. That is all.

Don't you wish that was all? Because it's not all. I lied to you.

2 weeks ago, post walk back to hood from Central Park, I met back up with my female bar friends. The one had just finished a super freaking fast half marathon (making me realize I have a true desire to start running again) so we wanted to celebrate with her. We headed up a few blocks for a brunch with plenty of wine - and then shopped our way back to our area. And finished our day with cocktails at a favorite restaurant - they have great food and great bourbon apple cocktails. Heart. Squee!

And then came Monday and my flight back to Detroit. I actually like Detroit / Michigan in general. I also really like the fact that if I fly direct, it's only 1 hour, 15 min flight. So yep, back to Detroit. We started out at one site on Monday afternoon and realized immediately that they hadn't done something they said they had done. I knew just by looking at the room they wanted to deploy in that we would not be able to deploy without some work being done. And then we went to the 2nd site, and ran into alllllll kinds of fun issues.

The good part of the day was that my BFF from the office got permission to come help me for my Tues-Wed work, so I got to pick her up on Monday night at the airport. We gossiped in the car all the way back to the city where we were staying, before popping into a Buffalo Wild Wings for a late dinner. Here is yet another reason I love Michigan - Michigan prices. We paid $3 for a "late night appetizer" of queso at BWs, and it was a HUGE portion. Our entire bill was $26. Again, Heart! Squee!

Tuesday was no better in terms of work - we went into to start prepping the product and immediately ran into yet more issues; some took all morning to resolve, some weren't resolved when I flew out on Wednesday. Dinner that night involved a very long, loud conversation about "tips of stylus pens" which turned into a "just the tip" conversation (wine, 2 good girlfriends from work, enough said). And Wednesday, wash, rinse and repeat. We flew out on Wednesday afternoon but I had a connecting flight through Baltimore. I got to Baltimore just fine but then high winds were causing havoc at JFK so it was a multi-hour wait at Baltimore, including an announcement that because we had waited so long, the flight crew might have to go off work hours. But we ended up getting out in the nick of time.

Thursday was multiple loads of laundry before packing up and catching our flight to the Land of Whiskey, Tobacco and Horses. I finally flew my first flight to my parents hometown from NY *that went on time*. No shit. The night was an early/late one - meaning it was late when we landed but we went straight to bed when we got to my parents house. Friday was amazing - we started it off by working out a bit, and then got to see Mr Pooh, sis and my parents for a breakfast. Afterwards, we stopped at Mr Pooh's to get Mrs Pooh and then it was off to the races!

Where only sis won any $. Still though - Keeneland is gorgeous and it was beautiful weather. Just getting to hang out, watch horses, and drink beer in the sun made it worthwhile. We were joined at Keeneland for a bit by my BFF TT; and completely randomly had a friend from IN (whom we met in TX and SF, and who visited us in NY) be at Keeneland that day also. All in all - just a blast. And it got better because it was then back to the parents house for dinner followed by everyone rallying and going bowling. There was a bowl off between Blondie and Mr Pooh (ending in a straight up tie) and then a late night Taco Bell run followed by cards at Mr Pooh's house.

I won't embarrass sis but do want to call out that the funniest thing I ever heard/saw her do was her imitation of mom on Friday night. Those who were there know all about it. Seriously. Funniest thing I've seen her do.

Saturday it was off to watch little kids play soccer - which honestly. So much fun. I got to see my nieces (THEY ARE SOOOOO FREAKING ADORABLE!!!!) - the first game was the little kids and they played in a giant pack but my little niece scored 2 goals. And then it was to the older kids game where my big niece ROCKED OUT the goalie position!

It was also exciting b/c when we were waiting for my big niece's soccer game, Mr Pooh goes "Oh, look who's here!" and we all turned around to see my uncle who had flown in randomly for the weekend! It was a real nice surprise - I like when everyone shows up when I'm back for a visit. Narcissism is spelled Kerri. After soccer, it was time for a giant drunken mexican brunch - the highlight of which was Blondie's steak fajitas served in a giant pineapple. My BFF TT joined us again for this, and we spent a few hours drinking and talking with everyone.

And then back to sis' house for a bit - hanging out there and talking, before hitting back up the Pooh's for way too much food and drinking. I wish I would've had room to try nachos but if I had, I might've spent all night "imitating mom". Sunday was nice - I got up early with Blondie and we got to meet up with Brother R and Shugs for some breakfast. Afterwards Brother R came back to the house and we spent the afternoon with the whole family playing cards and just hanging out.

Sunday night Blondie convinced me to buy tics to meet up with the family in July in PA (land of oil?) so we all got excited for that trip. There will be middle aged men roller skating (completely true), a baseball game between Pittsburgh and Philly, fireworks, getting to see my uncle's girlfriend for the first time in ages. Just a lot to look forward to!

We flew back bright and early Monday morning, and I turned my phone on when I landed to hear from the 3rd party company in Detroit. They had gotten a timeline for the fixes they needed and had planned for tentatively Wed. I ended up working somewhat on Monday even though I officially had vacation - I was trying to nail down exact dates for their work and for the stuff my company needed to fix. But it wasn't sorted out on Monday so into the office I went on Tuesday.

To my boss telling me to go home and pack because I was needed in Detroit on Wednesday. My company had "surprised" fixed the stuff I had found and the 3rd party company called back and 100% confirmed Wednesday. So yep, last minute $1400 plane ticket, last minute packing, last minute saying hi and bye to my cat, and Michigan it was.

I was in Michigan Wed-Fri this past week - the issue my company was working on got totally resolved and we got the issues with the 3rd party company 95% resolved. So that was a good step in the right direction. I enjoyed some good food at a mexican restaurant while I was here last week too - got a 12 oz imported mexican beer for $1.90; with a total bill of $16.66 for 2 beers, queso, taco and beans. Michigan. How I love thee.

Friday I got home mid afternoon and then met up with Blondie at our local bar. While I was chatting with him there, he mentioned he wanted to go to Key West for his birthday so a quick lookup of plane tickets... and Key West it is. We're flying in a few days before his birthday, renting a car and driving out to Key West, vacationing for 3 days, and then driving/flying back to NY. CAN NOT WAIT. And Saturday was another great day - I met up with my female bar friend for late afternoon bites and drinks, before we bar hopped our way back to our hood (margaritas at a mexican restaurant, bourbon at a whiskey bar) and met back up with Blondie for dinner.

I spent Sunday feeling like total shit - I didn't leave my bed except to pick up a prescription. And then I moaned all day long <- I've totally turned into my mother. And this morning, a 6 am flight back to Detroit. I'm here all week - flying home Friday night. We launch this week so it's my scary and exciting week. Keeping fingers crossed it goes well! I'm supposed to be in CA next week - all tickets are purchased, but now there's a possibility that project might get put on hold. I'll be sad if it does because I wanted to see my SF friends, but happy if it does because YAY NO LEAVING NY!!!!!

That's all. I'm now starving so it's foraging time in the big D (or is that Dallas?).

--K